I pulled up to a pump the other day to put gas in my car and it was impossible not to notice the TV that was blaring the news station and telling me about all the stuff going on in the world. It dawned on me that more and more gas pumps are coming equipped with TVs so that you don’t have to just “stand there”, you can catch up on the world events while pumping gas.
It really struck me on that particular morning. Many of you know that I do not have TV at home. I have a TV and I have capability to stream movies through Amazon Prime but that’s it. It is only turned on about once every 2 months to watch a movie, if even that. TV is just not something that I participate with at all. Because of this, I am super sensitive to them when they are on.
So as I am standing there getting the doom and gloom of the world right at the gas pump, I begin to think how did this all come about? How did the demand for TV to be right at the gas pump happen? Someone thought of that idea, invented a TV that could be installed at the gas pump, marketed to the gas stations and the gas stations bought into it.
I am not saying that is a bad thing, its truly BRILLIANT!!!
For some reason as humans, we cannot just stand there and pump gas and think? That makes me nervous. I have quite a few little ones in my life through my family and my practice, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, and I am noticing that it is harder and harder for them to be still and not stimulated by technology, TV or something of that nature.
I remember growing up with “I’m bored” coming from my mouth from time to time. However “I’m bored” just was something to say when I didn’t feel like using my imagination and finding/creating something to do.
I am curious if kids are getting much of a chance to develop their imagination anymore. Life is so filled with someone else’s creation, someone else’s imagination, projected on a screen and I am certain this is taking away from developing their own. Imagination is like a muscle and needs to be worked.
We used to take family road trips out west, hours and hours and hours in the car with four kids. We didn’t have movie players and gaming systems, we had the radio and our imagination and maybe some crayons and coloring books. That was it. Now it seems some people drive to the grocery store and need to have movies on in the car. I am, by no means, saying this is wrong because there are many good reasons for this. However, what if we just look out the windows, look around, maybe play “I spy” or something and start to engage the imaginative and observation parts of the mind…especially for the little ones but adults too!
Let’s take a moment and glance back through this past week. I am curious to know if there has been any time set aside to be able to just think. Taking some deliberate time to just think is a way we can asses our direction in life. It is a way to reflect back and see what patterns are happening in life and, if expanded out over the next multiple years in life, where that may take us.
A few years back, when my grandmother was still alive, she would see her grandchildren on their phones constantly and directly ask “When do you kids take any time to just think?’
Many of the new patients coming into the office these days check the box “anxiety” as one of their symptoms. I believe some of this is from the high speed pace of life and filling every single moment of each day with technology. Though I do not have TV, I am equally as guilty as the rest with wanting to fill quiet spaces with technology. I have set deliberate time aside to be “screen-free” and am changing my morning routine to delay my first screen interaction.
I am, in no way, saying anything is good or bad. I am, in no way, nay-saying on kids and TV. What I am asking is maybe we take a closer look at the AMOUNT of time spend in front of a screen. And though it is difficult because the gas pump TVs are SO LOUD, maybe take those 3 minutes to pump your gas to think about your life, your family or your significant other. If you are on a undesirable trajectory in life, I am not sure those 3 minutes pumping gas will give you enough insight to realize it, but awareness is the beginning of anything.
It amazed me how much I learned from pumping gas that day. Just something to think about since we only get one chance!!!